National Republican., 1887-01-24

Day 10 the Windows-they want shelter In
the grace Of God and In Christian assocla-
In your prayers, let me have them; If there
be any virtue In good counsels, give them
to me; II there be anything eevatlng in
Christian associations, let me feel their In
fluence.n "Where thou dwellest will
dwell. Thy people shall be my people, thy
God my God" Open your doors, Oh,
church Of God and let them come "as
doves to their windows.n
Christ is the only shelter of the soul In
trouble. What can you do without Him
when sorrow comes? Perhaps at first you
take valeran to quiet your nerves, or alcohol
to revive your spirits, but have you found
anything In the medicines or physical slim
ulants sufficient Perhaps In the excite
ment OF the money market or In the merry
making Of the club you have sought relief.
This world has no balsam for wounded
soul, no shelter for bruised spirit. The
dove in the time of the deluge flew north
and 1t was all water, In which were tossed
the carcasses Of the dead world, and the
first solid thing the dove's feet touched was
the window OF the ark. So the soul in
trouble goes out in one direction and finds
nothing substantial to rest upon, and in
another direction, and every whittier, but
there is no rest for the dove save the ark.
Substantial comfort will not grow
In Natures barren soll
All we can boast till Christ we know
Is vanity and toll.
But where the Lord has planted grace,
And made his gloties known,
Thtre fruits Of heavenly joys are found,
And there alone.
You lost parent; some one said that It
was In the regular course Of nature that
your father should expire. Did that COM
fort youp You lost q child; somebody
said II that child had lived It might have
turned out badly. Did that comfort you2
You lost your property; they told you that
riches were very uncertain. You knew that
before. You were sick; they explained to
you that the difficulty was In the secretions
or in the sciatic nerve. Did that soothe your
o the despicable quackery Of earthly COM
fort But when Christ comes to the soul
and says, 81 took your estate because l
wanted to live you more valuable treasures;
/ made you sick in body that your soul
might be brought up to eternal health;
took your loved ones away because have
better and brighter place for them In my
own presence:n then the wound heals, then
the tears dry off the face, then God has be-
come the everlasting portion Of the soul.
Oh, the air is full Of black wings and
ravens beaks. They join their wings OF
| the sun. They have fattened on the car
casses Of men. Their clangor is horrible to
the ear. Trouble and disease and death
coming down on the wind. No wonder
these souls have come for shelter 'tas doves
| to their windows" What does the pigeon
In the coop care for the hawk in the skys
Safe in Christ, safe forever. The noun
tains may depart, and the hills be removed,
but Thy loving kindness shall never fail
Again These souls, like doves, fly home.
| Most of the winged denizens have no home;
now they are at the north and now at the
south, as the climate indicates. This year
q nest In one tree, next year nest in an
| thn. TI,o. ,et, 10 Al, l.,,N
three months Of the year In Germany, and
is then gone. The linnet of Norway crosses
the ocean to find rest away from the WIN
ter's blast. The heron, the gold finch, and
the gross-beak are migratory. The cranes
call each other together several days before
going, choose their leader, arrange them
selves In two lines, forming an angle, and
are gone. But the pigeons alluded to In
the text, summer and winter and always
have home in the dovecot. And so Christ
Is the home of those who come to Him.
He Is warm home; they rest under the
"feathers of the Almighty" Christ tells
us that chickens find not warmer place
under the wing Of the hen than we In Him.
He Is safe home; our fortunes may 60
down ten degrees below zero, the SHOWS Of
trouble may fall, the winds Of persecution
may howl, the jackals Of death may stalk
forth-all Is well, for "great peace have
they who trust in God" From this home
we shall never be driven out. The sheriff
may sell us out of our earthly house, or the
fires may burn 1t down, or the winds carry
1t away, but that home shall always be ours
| Men talk as though starting for God
were putting out on a traekless moor, or
wandering through the sands Of d great
Sahara. No, no; 1t is coming to the warm
est and best Of homes, 'as doves to the
| wndows.n
| Again: These souls to-day gathering for
membership are like doves because they
come In docks. The buzzards, with drip
| ping beals nuttering up from the carrlon,
Is alone. You occasionally look up against
the wintry sky and see a solitary bird wing
| past. But doves and pigeons are In focks;
by scores and hundreds do they fly. You
hear the loud whirr OF their wings as they
pass. So to-day we see great flock COM
ing into the kingdom. 1t is not straggler,
trying to catch up to his regiment; 1t is a
solid phalanx, taking the kingdom. 1t is
not drop on your hand or cheek that
leaves you in doubt whether 1t rains or not,
but the rush of unmistakable shower. 1t
is not the raking up of the ,gleanings, but
nova doves to their windows" There
are all ages In this flock. Some Of them are
young, and the very first use they make Of
their wings is to fly into the kingdom.
Some Of them are old, and their wings have
been torn with shot and ruflled with the
tempest, and they had almost dropped into
the sea. Some OF them have been making
wings in fountains of sin; they wandered
near the gulf of perdition but they saw
their danger-they changed their course.
They have. come at last, "as doves to the
windows"
thank God that 1 have lived to see this
day; to my dying hour / shall not cease to
praise Him for this manifestation Of His
| Dratsn t,,N t,1 Il
stars Praise Him, church militant on
earthl Praise Him, church triumphant in
heavenl Let the church beneath raise up
its right hand generalization and the church
above reach down It's right hand Of joy, and
while the two are clasped let the elders of
the church put to our lips the wine of
earthly celebration, and the cupbearers of
nifty the Oldest wine, prepared by Him who
trod the wine press alone, and SO let two
worlds at once keep jubilee!
Who are these who come to us to-day!
Many are young. Until Robert Raikes
came there was no organized effort for saw
ing the young. Wespent all of our strength
trying to bend old trees, when little pres
sure would have been sufficient for the
saplipg. We let men 60 down TO the very
bottom Of sin before we try to lift them up.
II is great deal easier to keep train on
the track than to get 1t on when 1t ia off.
The experienced reinman checks the fiery
steed at the first jump, for when he gets
full swing the swift hoofs, clicking fire from
the pavement and the bit between his teeth,
bis momentum is irresistible. 1t is said
that the young must be allowed to SOW
their "wild oats" / have noticed that
those who SOW their wild oats seldom try
to raise any oth' kind OF crop.
went through b.a heaviest snow storm
have ever known to see dying girl. Her
cheek on the pillow was white as the snow
on the easement. Her large round eye had